Boiler-feed-water heater and purifier.



W. J. MGKNIGHT- BOILER FEED WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNI'}19,1908. 95g g3 Patented Mar 22, 1910.

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W. J. MGKNIGHT.

BOILER FEED WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 19, 1908.

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W. J. MOKNIGHT. I BOILER FEED WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

APPLIGATION TILED JUNE 19, 190B.

Patented Mar. 22, 1910.

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W W E W UNI STS BOILER-FEED-WATER HEATER AND PURIFIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 22, 1910.

Application filed June 19, 1908. Serial No. 439,317.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER J. MOKNIGHT, a citizen of the United States,residing at Buffalo, in the county of Erie and State of New York, haveinvented a certain new and useful Improvement in Boiler-Feed-WVaterHeaters and Purifiers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to an improved tank for heating and purifyingboiler feed water, and the object of the invention is to construct asimple, strong, and exceedingly eflicient apparatus for this purpose.

The invention also relates to certain details of construction, whichwill be hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to theaccompanying drawings in which one adaptation of the invention is illustrated.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the im proved tank, showing the variouspipes and connections. Fig. 2 is a central vertical section through theimproved tank on line a a, Fig. 3 with certain pipes and other necessarydevices in elevation or partially in section and partially in elevation.Fig. 3 is a horizontal section through the tank on line .7) Z), Fig. 2.of one of the inclined shelves showing the sectional character thereof.

In referring to the drawings in detail, like numerals designate likeparts.

In the adaptation of the invention shown in the accompanying drawings,the tank consists of a cylindrical member 1, constituting the sides ofthe tank, and top and bottom end members 2 and 3, which are flanged asshown at 4 and 5 and fitted within the respective ends of thecylindrical member, and rigidly fastened in place by rivets 6.

The tank is of a vertical or upright form and the lower portion of itsinterior is divided into a series of vertical compartments 7, 8 and 9,by vertical partitions 10 and 11. The partition 10 extends upward fromthe bottom 3 of the tank and terminates a short 1 distance below thewater line. It is fastened in place by rivets 12 which pass through itsflanged vertical side margins 13 and the cylindrical member 1 of thetank, and through an angle iron 14 and the bottom member 3 of the tank.The partition 11 begins a short distance above the bottom 3 of the tank,extends parallel to the partition 10 and terminates above the waterline. It is fastened to the cylindrical member 1 Fig. 4; is a detachedplan viewof the tank by rivets 15 in the same manner as the partition10. The space between the lower edge of the partition 11 and the bottomof the tank is closed by a screen 16 of wire cloth or other suitablematerial of pervious character so as to separate the compartments 8 and9, but still permit the passage of water from one to the other, see Fig.2.

The three compartments 7, 8 and 9 constitute respectively, an inletchamber, a filtering chamber, and an outlet chamber. The middlecompartment or filtering chamber 8 is filled up to a level with the topedge of the partition 10, with a filtering compound 17 which ispreferably arranged in layers or strata of different grades of material.In the drawings, three such layers or strata are shown, a lower layer ofvery fine material, an intermediate layer of medium grade and a toplayer of comparatively coarse material. The purpose in thus arrangingthe filtering compound in layers of different grades is to facilitatethe operation of filtering the water and to enable the compound to beused longer without cleaning The upper layer will remove the coarseimpurities first as the water passes through, the intermediate layerwill gather the impurities which the upper layer failed to remove, andthe lower layer will retain the very minutest impurities so that whenthe water passes beneath the partition'll into the compartment 9 it willbe, to all practical purposes, chemically pure. The filtering compound17 is prevented from being washed into the outlet cham ber 9 by thescreen 16, see Fig. 2 which is fine enough to prevent the filtering compound from passing through, but offers no obstacle to the passage of thefiltered water.

The upper portion of the interior of the tank is divided into aplurality of approximately horizontal compartments by a series ofinclined shelves 18 which are arranged in opposed relation to eachother, incline alternately in opposite directions and are fastenedalternately to opposite sides of the tank. It will be noticed that theshelves are all inclined to about the same degree and that thoseextending from the same side of the tank are substantially parallel witheach other. The shelves 18 are each composed of a plurality of sectionswhich are secured by bolts 19 to brackets 20 fastened to the interior ofthe cylindrical member 1, of the tank by rivets 21, see Fig.

A pipe 22 which is connected to a suitable source of water supply, suchas, for instance, a service pipe, leads into the interior of the tankthrough the top 2 thereof being secured thereto by a flanged coupling 23riveted in place. The pipe 22 is provided with an automatic valve whichis operated by means of a float within the tank so that the inflow ofwater is regulated by the water level inside the tank. This automaticvalve is illus trated in Fig. 2 and consists of a body 24, in which islocated a leaf 25, supported on a stem and adapted to cooperate withshoulders inside the valve body to obstruct the passage of water. A.crank 26 is fastened to the outer end of the valve stem, and isconnected by means of a depending connecting rod 27, to a crank 28, onthe outer end of a horizontal shaft 29, which is located within thelower portion of the tank and is journaled in a stuffing box bearing 30in the side of the tank and in a bearing in the vertical partition 10,see Fig. 2. A crank arm 31 is fastened to the shaft 29 within the tankand carries at its outer extremity a. float 32 of suitable design. Itwill readily be seen by reference to Fig. 2, that when water is drawnfrom the tank and the float descends, the automatic valve is opened andadmits water into the tank from the supply pipe 22. As soon as theinflow of water exceeds the outflow, the float rises and closes theautomatic valve, thereby shutting off the supply of water.

The water is used over and over again, the returns from the buildingheating system entering the tank through a pipe This pipe is connectedto the upper portion of the tank so that the return enters one of thehorizontal compartments as shown in Fig. 2. It is fastened to thecylindrical tank member 1 by a flanged coupling 3st. This returnmaintains the water level within the tank at approximately a uniformheight, so that only sufficient water is admitted through the servicepipe 22, to replace the loss due to waste or leakage in the buildingheating system.

Provision is made for removing oil and other floating impurities fromthe water before itpasses through the filtering compound so as to lessenthe work of the compound and thus prolong its life. It consists of ahorizontal pipe 35 which enters the compartment 7 through the side 1 ofthe tank at about a level with the normal level of the water therein.The pipe is fastened to the tank by means of a flanged coupling 36, andis connected to a general waste pipe 37 by vertical and horizontal pipes38 and 39. An additional overflow pipe 40 is provided which enters thecompartment 9 through the side 1 of the tank at about the same level asthe pipe 35, and is connected to the waste pipe 37 by vertical andhorizontal pipes a1 and 42. This pipe serves as a safety orsupplementary overflow to remove any oil which may splash over thepartition 11 into the compartment 9.

The heated and purified water is withdrawn from the compartment 9 by apipe &3 which is connected to a suction pump in the usual manner. Thispipe enters the compartment 9 through the side 1 of the tank below thewater line and extends downward with its open end near the bottom of thecompartment. A vertical pipe 14- is connected to the suction pipe 453outside the tank by a shorthorizontal pipe 15, and extends upward abovethe water level in the tank with its upper end open to the air. In casethe water level in the tank should for any reason fall below the upperend of the pipe 13, the pump would draw air through the pipe 4a and byits action notify the operator of the fact that the water in the tank islow.

The feed water is heated by the use of exhaust steam which is conveyedthrough the tank in such a manner that the inflowing water, either fromthe service pipe 22 or the return pipe 33, is well heated before itenters the compartment 7.

The exhaust steam pipe M5 is connected to the side 1 of the tank by abranch pipe 4.7, which leads into the tank at a point above the waterline and below the lower inclined shelf 18, see Fig. 2. Another branchpipe 48 leads from the exhaust pipe 16 above the pipe at? into the tankthrough the top 2 thereof. The branch pipes 4:7 and 18 are connectedrespectively to the exhaust pipe 16 by two couplings 49 and 50 and tothe tank by flanged couplings 51 and 52 and are provided with valves 53and 54L by means of which communication with the tank may be cut off. Avalve is located in the exhaust pipe 16 between the connections of thebranch pipes, by means of which. the direct passage of the exhauststeam. through the pipe can be cut off and the steam directed into thetank.

The tank is provided with a by-pass by means of which directcommunication is afforded between the inlet and outlet com partments 7and 9 so that in cases of emergency the feed water can flow directlyfrom one to the other without first passing through the filteringchamber 8. pass consists of two short horizontal pipes 56 and 57 whichcommunicate with the compartments 7 and 9 respectively through the side1 of the tank below the water line and which are connected at theirouter ends by a transverse horizontal pipe 58. The pipes 56 and 57 areconnected to the tank by flanged couplings 59 and 60 riveted in place,and to the pipe 58 by elbow couplings in the usual manner. The pipe 58is provided This bywith a valve 61 whereby communication between thecompartments 7 and 9 is normally closed.

A water gage 62 of the well known type is provided and a manhole G3 islocated in the side of the tank above the water line to alfordconvenient access for introducing and removing the filtering materialand cleaning the interior of the tank.

VVashout pipes 64 and 65 which enter the compartments 7 and 9 throughthe bottom 3 of the tank connect to the general waste pipe 37 and areprovided with stop cocks 66 and 67. By means of these pipes any sedimentwhich may be deposited in the bottom of the tank can be easily washedout.

The tank is preferably raised above the floor level by supporting itupona brick or concrete foundation 68 through which the pipes 64 and 65 passas shown in Fig. 1.

Hand holes 69 and 70 are located in the side of the tank near the bottomof the compartments 7 and 9 to afford convenient access for cleaning.

The upper portion of the tank is provided with a removable door or coverso that access can be had to the interior of the tank for theintroduction and removal of the inclined shelves. A rectangular openingof suflicient size is cut into the side 1 of the tank near the topthereof and is surrounded by a rectangular flanged casing 71 which isriveted to the tank. A cover or plate 7 2 is securely fastened to thecasing 71 by stud bolts 73 the joint being made steam tight in any ofthe usual well known ways.

In the preferred construction of the inclined shelves as shown in Figs.2, 3 and 4 of the accompanying drawings, each one consists of threesections which are fastened to the brackets 20 as heretofore described.By constructing the shelves in this manner, they may easily be removedand replaced in case of corrosion or breakage.

The operation of the improved boiler feed water heater and purifier isas follows,The filtering compartment 8 is filled with layers or strataof filtering material of any of the well known compounds used for thispurpose. The valve 55 in the exhaust pipe 4-6 is closed, and the valves53 and 54: in the branch pipes 47 and 48, opened so as to direct theexhaust steam into the tank. After the steam enters the tank it pursuesa sinuous or serpentine course through the compartments formed by theinclined shelves 18 and in so doing thoroughly heats the platescomprising the shelves, and then passes out through the pipe 48 backinto the exhaust pipe L6. As the feed water enters the tank eitherthrough the service pipe 22 or the return 33 it strikes the hot platesof the shelves 18 and is thoroughly heated. It will be noticed byreference to Fig. 2 that the feed water pursues the same course as thesteam in passing through the compartments formed by the inclinedshelves, only in an opposite direction. From the inclined shelves, thewater falls into the compartments 7, filters through the filteringcompound 17 in the compartment 8 and flows thence through the screen 16into the outlet compartment 9 from whence it is withdrawn through thepipe 43.

I claim 1. A combined feed water heater and purifier comprising a tank,a vertical partition extending from the bottom of the tank andterminating below the normal water line, another vertical partitionextending from a point sufliciently above the bottom of the tank toleave a passage for water between the lower end of the partition and thebottom of the tank and terminating above the normal water line, saidpartitions dividing the lower portions of the tank into three connectingcompartments arrangedside by side and forming inlet, filtering andoutlet chambers, overflow pipes leading from the inlet and out-letchambers for removing oil and other floating impurities, a series ofupper approximately horizontal heating compartments in the upper portionof the tank above the lower compartments, said upper compartments beingformed by inclined shelves extending alternately from opposite sides ofthe tank, an inlet pipe connected to a water supply and a return pipeboth leading into the heating compartments, an automatic valve in theinlet pipe, a pipe leading into the tank above the normal water line andproviding an inlet for the heating agent, a pipe leading from the tankabove the inclined shelves and providing an exit for the heating agent,and an outlet pipe leading from the lower outlet chamber.

2. In a combined feed water heater and purifier, a tank having verticalpartitions located in the lower portion thereof and dividing said lowertank portion into inlet, filteringand outlet chambers, a series ofinclined shelves located in the upper portion of the tank above thevertical partitions, and extending from opposite sides of the tank andforming a series of approximately horizontal heating compartments; saidshelves being formed in separable sections for convenient removal, aninlet pipe and a return pipe both leading to the heating compartments,means for heating the inclined shelves and thus heating the inflowingwater as it comes into contact with said shelves, an outlet pipe leadingfrom the outlet chamber and said tank having an opening closed by acover through which the inclined shelves may be removed.

3. A combined feed water heater and puri fier comprising a tank havingvertical inlet, filtering and outlet chambers arranged side by side inthe lower portion of the tank,

a series of inclined shelves in the upper portion of the tank andextending alternately from opposite sides of the tank and incliningalternately in opposite directions thereby forming a series ofapproximately horizontal compartments through which the water flows in asinuous course and from the lower one of which it drops into thevertical inlet chamber in the lower portion of the tank, a pipeconnected to a water supply and a return pipe; both of said pipesleading to the horizontal compartments, means for heating the water asit passes through the horizontal compartments, and an outlet pipeleading from the outlet chamber.

4-. A combined feed water heater and puritier comprising a tank havinginlet, filtering and outlet chambers located side by side in the lowerportion of the tank and being connected with each other, a series ofsectional inclined shelves located in the upper portion of the tank andarranged 'to form a series of approximately horizontal compartmentsthrough which the water flows in a sinuous course, means for heating theinclined shelves, a pipe connected to a water supply and a return pipeleading into the tank, an automatic valve in the first mentioned watersupply pipe for automatically regulating the admission of water into thetank and an outlet chamber.

In a combined feed water heater and purifier, a tank having its lowerportion divided by vertical partitions into inlet, filtering and outletchambers, and the filtering chamber being located between the inlet andoutlet chambers and being in communi cation at its top with one of theremaining chambers and at its bottom with the other remaining chamber, aseries of horizontal heating compartments arranged in a vertical row inthe upper portion of the tank above the lower chambers and having thelowest compartment. arranged to direct the flow of liquid into the inletchamber, an inlet pipe leading to the heating compartments and an outletpipe leading from the outlet chamber.

(5. In a combined feed water heater and purifier, a tank having itslower portion divided by vertical partitions into inlet, filtering andoutlet chambers, and the filtering chamber being located between theinlet and outlet chambers and being in comnninication at its top withthe inlet chamber and at its bottom with the outlet chamber, a series ofhorizontal heating compartments arranged in a vertical row in the upperportion of the tank above the lower chambers and having the lowestcompartment arranged to direct the flow of liquid into the inletchamber, an inlet pipe leading to the heating compartments and an outletpipe leading from the outlet chamber.

7. In a combined feed water heater and purifier, a vertical tank havingvertical partitions in its lower portion dividing said portion intoinlet, filtering and outlet cham bers which are arranged side by side,the inlet chamber being arranged to communicate with the top of thefiltering chamber, and the outlet chamber being arranged to conuect withthe bottom of the filter chamber, a series of horizontal compartmentsformed by shelves in the upper portion of the tank, a service pipeconnected to a water supply, and a return pipe both leading to thehorizontal upper compartments, means for heating the water as it passesthrough said horizontal upper compartments, and an outlet pipe leadingfrom the tank and communicating with the outlet chamber thereof,substantially as set forth.

8. A combined feed water heater and purifier comprising a tank, inlet,filtering and outlet chambers located in the lower portion of the tank,a series of sectional inclined shelves located in the upper portion ofthe tank and arranged to form a series of con n-ected compartmentsthrough which the water tlows in a sinuous course, a pipe locatedadjacent to the tank for conducting exhaust steam to the open air,branch pipes connecting the exhaust pipe to the tank, valves in theexhaust pipe and the branch pipes for directing the exhaust steam intothe tank, the branch pipes being located in such a manner that theexhaust steam passes through the series of connected compartments in asinuous course and in a direction opposite to that of the inflowingwater, whereby the inclined shelves are thoroughly heated, a pipeconnected to a water supply and a return pipe both leading into theconnected compartments and arranged to discharge upon the heatedinclined shelves whereby the water is thoroughly heated be fore itreaches the inlet chamber, an automatic valve in the supply pipe forregulat ing the admission of water to the tank and an outlet pipeleading from the outlet chamber.

9. A combined feed water heater and purifier comprising a tank, avertical partition extending from the bottom of the tank and terminatingbelow the normal water line, another vertical partition extending from apoint sutliciently above the bottom of the tank to leave a passage forwater between the lower end of the partition and the bottom ot the tankand terminating above the normal water line, aid partitions dividing thelower portions of the tank into three connecting compartments arrangedside by side and forming inlet and outlet chambers and an intermediateconnecting chamber, overflow pipes leading from the inlet and outletchambers for removing oil and other floating impurities, a series ofupper approximately horizontal heating compartments in the upper portionof the tank above the lower compartments, said upper compartments beingformed by inclined shelves extending alternately from opposite sides ofthe tank, an inlet pipe connected to a water supply and a return pipeboth leading into the heating compartments, an automatic valve in theinlet pipe, a pipe leading into i I the upper portion of the tank abovethe the tank above the normal water line and providing an inlet for theheating agent, a pipe leading from the tank above the inclined shelvesand providing an exit for the heating agent, and an outlet pipe leadingfrom the lower outlet chamber.

10. In a combined feed water heater and purifier, a tank having itslower portion divided by vertical partitions into three chambersarranged side by side, two of said chambers constituting inlet andoutlet chambers and the other chamber an intermediate connecting chamberand being located between the inlet and outlet chambers and being incommunication at its top with the inlet chamber and at its bottom withthe outlet chamber, a series of horizontal heating compartments arrangedin a vertical row in lower chambers and having the lowest compartmentarranged to direct the flow of liquid into the inlet chamber, an inletpipe leading to the heating compartments and an outlet pipe leadingfromthe outlet chamber.

WVALTER J. MoKNIGI-IT. Vitnesses:

L. M. SANGSTER, FREDERICK P. DUCHSCHERER.

